Eu3+-doped CdWO4 phosphors with different doping concentrations were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The as-prepared CdWO4:Eu3+ phosphors showed strong red emission at 613nm corresponding to the 5D0→7F2 transition of Eu3+ under 464nm blue light excitation. The optimized doping concentration of Eu3+ was 0.5mol% for the highest emission intensity at 613nm, and the concentration quenching occured when the concentration of Eu3+ was beyond 0.5mol%. As the CdWO4:0.5%Eu3+ phosphor was pumped by blue-light, high color purity and high luminous intensity red emission with chromaticity coordinates (0.6465, 0.347) was achieved. This phosphor matched well with the output wavelength of commercial GaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and may have potential application in white light emission devices based on blue LEDs.